Married IRA owners should update estate plans to address SECURE Act changes to IRA taxation and new Indiana Medicaid policy. This article explains why.

This conclusion of our two-part series about Medicaid and prenuptial agreements explains how Medicaid treats prenuptial agreements.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) published a new final rule on September 18, 2018. The new rule radically alters eligibility requirements for need-based VA pensions.  This article summarizes and explains new need-based VA pension eligibility requirements that take effect on October 18, 2018. Affected Veterans & Family Members The revised pension requirements […]

This article explains why young parents need to make estate plans more urgently than the older generation that raised them.

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] We have heard people tell us for decades that they want to “avoid probate.” They say it as if they want to avoid cancer. Most people have no idea what it is that they think they should avoid. Fewer people know that the “probate” concept […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] What comes to mind when you think of a prenuptial agreement? If you are like most people, you probably think about wealthy celebrities protecting their wealth from divorce. You may also think that a person would have to be a greedy, heartless jerk to ask […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] They say that the road to destruction is paved with good intentions. The saying fits procrastinators that intend to make or update estate plans involving turbulent families, but never get around to making updated plans. An estate plan procrastinator can create even more destruction by […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Revocable trust plans have been around for fifty years or more. Revocable trusts were quite the rage when we began practicing law in the early 1990s. Most people wanted the privacy advantage that revocable trusts held over last wills and testaments. Some people believed mistakenly […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] People often forget to keep their important papers in order. Disorganization can rob you of the chance to react quickly in critical or important moments. Disorganization can lead to serious errors after your death or if someone is helping you manage your business during a […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Financial experts often say that if you die without a last will and testament, the state will decide who gets your assets. That statement is true if you die owning assets without joint owners and without naming beneficiaries of bank accounts, insurance policies, retirement plans, […]